5.  In 2001 the applicant became fully blind in both eyes because of glaucoma.
6.  On 7 January 2002 he asked the Labour-Expert Medical Commission specialising in eye diseases in Plovdiv (“the LEMC”) to certify him as a disabled person.
7.  In a decision of 5 September 2002 the LEMC found that as a result of his illness the applicant was completely incapable of seeing with either eye and had thus 100% lost his ability to work for the rest of his life. It determined that the start date of the disability was 12 December 2001, the date on which he had first been examined by a medical commission specialising in eye diseases.
8.  On 11 September 2002 the applicant applied to the Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv for a disability pension and an attendance allowance.
9.  In a decision of 1 October 2002 the head of the pensions division of the Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv set the amount of the applicant’s disability pension and his attendance allowance, setting the start date as 11 September 2002, the date of the applicant’s application.
10.  The applicant appealed, arguing that the start date should have been set as 12 December 2001, when his disability had first been conclusively determined. In a decision of 28 January 2003 the director of the Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv dismissed the appeal. He found that the LEMC had determined the start date of the applicant’s disability as 12 December 2001. The applicant had applied for a pension on 11 September 2002, that is, more than six months after the accrual of his right, whereas under Article 94 of the Social Security Code of 1999 (see paragraph 29 below) pensions were granted from the date of accrual of the right to a pension, but only if the person concerned had applied within six months of that date. If this time‑limit was missed the pension was granted from the date of application, which in the instant case was 11 September 2002.
11.  The applicant sought judicial review, arguing, inter alia, that the missing of the six-month time-limit had not been his fault, but a result of the slow pace at which the LEMC had processed his case. In a judgment of 22 July 2003 the Plovdiv Regional Court quashed the director’s decision, agreeing that the applicant’s failure to comply with the time‑limit had not been due to his oversight, but to the fact that he had only obtained the decision of the LEMC after that time‑limit had expired.
12.  The Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv appealed on points of law to the Supreme Administrative Court. In a final judgment of 9 August 2004 the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the lower court’s judgment, fully agreeing with its reasoning.
13.  On 22 March 2005 the applicant brought an action against the National Social Security Institute. He relied on section 1 of the State Responsibility for Damage Act of 1988 (see paragraph 24 below) and sought 2,000 Bulgarian levs (BGN) in non-pecuniary damages for the frustration he had experienced as a result of the unlawful decisions of the social security authorities.
14.  In a judgment of 1 July 2005 the Plovdiv District Court awarded the applicant BGN 500 in non-pecuniary damages. It held, inter alia, that the action had been properly brought against the National Social Security Institute, which was the authority responsible for social security matters.
15.  Both the applicant and the National Social Security Institute appealed. The National Social Security Institute argued, inter alia, that it was not the proper defendant in the case.
16.  In a final judgment of 28 October 2005 the Plovdiv Regional Court quashed the lower court’s judgment and dismissed the action. It noted that, according to the National Social Security Institute’s internal rules, it had territorial subdivisions – the Regional Departments of Social Security, which had their own bank accounts and balance sheets. The unlawful decision from which the applicant’s alleged damage arose had been made by the head of a territorial subdivision of the Institute. Therefore, the proper defendant was not the Institute, but its Regional Department. The court ordered the applicant to pay BGN 80 in court fees.
17.  On 11 October 2006 the applicant brought an identical action, but this time, in line with the Plovdiv Regional Court’s holding (see paragraph 16 above), named as a defendant the Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv.
18.  In a decision of 24 October 2006 the Plovdiv District Court declared the action inadmissible. It found that the National Social Security Institute was a legal person and that the Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv was only one of its subdivisions. It noted that according to interpretative decision no. 3 of 2004 of the Supreme Court of Cassation (see paragraph 26 below), claims under section 1 of the State Responsibility for Damage Act of 1988 had to be brought against those authorities which had a legal personality, not against their territorial departments or subdivisions having no legal personality. The Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv did not have such a personality. The interpretative decision was binding on all courts, but had apparently been disregarded by the Plovdiv Regional Court in the previous proceedings. The court further stated that, despite the evident injustice created by the combination of its ruling and the earlier ruling of the Plovdiv Regional Court, it could not continue examining an action against an improper defendant and was bound to discontinue the proceedings.
19.  The applicant appealed. He said that the decision had infringed his right of access to a court and explained that he had been forced to bring an action against the Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv only because the Plovdiv Regional Court had stated that it, and not the National Social Security Institute, was the proper defendant to actions under section 1 of the State Responsibility for Damage Act of 1988.
20.  In a decision of 27 November 2006 the Plovdiv Regional Court, sitting in a different formation from the one in the first proceedings, dismissed the appeal. It also held that the proper defendant was the National Social Security Institute, which was a legal person, and not the Regional Department of Social Security in Plovdiv, which was merely one of its territorial subdivisions. The fact that the Regional Department had its own bank account and balance sheet did not alter this conclusion. The court referred to the Supreme Court of Cassation’s interpretative decision no. 3 of 2004 (see paragraph 26 below). It went on to state that the situation was indeed unfair and that the applicant was in an impasse, created, on the one hand, by the fact that the interpretative decision was mandatory and, on the other hand, by the fact that its prior judgment had dismissed the action against the National Social Security Institute. Unfortunately, the court was not in a position to resolve that impasse.
21.  The applicant appealed on points of law to the Supreme Court of Cassation. He reiterated his arguments regarding access to a court.
22.  In a final decision of 10 January 2007 the Supreme Court of Cassation upheld the lower court’s decision with almost identical reasoning.